Developing Usable Experiences

Thin wrists and impending summer

April 8th, 2008 7:35 am —  210 views

Spring is definitely here. Plants are growing, bugs are appearing, the air is noticeably warmer. Walking out of work late yesterday I was greeted by a genuinely warm blast of air and mellow sunshine. Much like the dancing kodiak1 has been enjoying the last week.

I was listening to Prairie Home Companion on NPR2 the other day and there was this episode about how, when the host was younger, he dreaded the long summer. The lack of structure, the change of routine. I understand what he meant. That has always been me. Later he talked about his favorite chicken and how he was teased as a child for having thin wrists. An interesting program (usually).

School is nagging, work is poised, and now I must be about my day.

Here is a “shout-out” to all my classmates currently in Florence, Italy at the 2008 International CHI conference.3

Image: Snapped this walking back to a parking garage on Sunday. Guys with swords. Early that day I took this interesting city scape from the roof of a parking garage and this one looking down into this alley.

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  1. Also known by his Michigan Indian name of Waltzing Bear. [↩]
  2. Michigan radio is having its spring pledge drive to raise money for Michigan talk radio. After searching a few minutes I couldn’t find a link. [↩]
  3. Would have loved to have gone. I’m not part of the CHI competition and have no papers to present…though, but maybe another time. [↩]

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Simultaneous parallel digital chatter

April 6th, 2008 10:37 pm —  92 views

I had two meetings today with groups for class projects. After them I came home and did nothing useful the rest of the day. I really have no excuses.

When I’m in my “cave” sitting in front of my computers I usually run this little space heater. A warm breeze at my feet helps fend off the chill of poured concrete, radon oozing, walls. Problem is, it’s noisy. Sometimes when I work on something that requires me to think, I put in earplugs.1 I have a couple dozen pairs of unopened super heavy duty decibel blocking ear plugs that I bought from a surplus magazine through a guy I used to work with.

This semester has been particularly interesting2, useful, enjoyable, and to be honest, an exercise in restraint. The juxtaposition of work and school has allowed me to see things more clearly and I’m noticing a lot more.

I’m beginning to appreciate how being an Information Architect, learning principles and practices of human-computer interaction, complements being a programmer of web applications and services. I’m realizing how important it is to think about more than just the data moving through the system. In the near future, applications and systems will have to be able to speak to each other.3 The language of our services, servers, and programs must be one that can be used like a cyber-link to all known systems.4

From the user’s perspective, this communication isn’t alwyas visible. It is back-channel between the local thread and remote threads. A constant whisper across the vast realms of silent electric landscapes. All moving with a digital pulse.

I’m rambling tonight. Maybe it’s because I smell spring in the cold wind. Maybe it’s anticipation. Maybe it’s frustration. Maybe it’s nothing that matters much.

Image: I took this picture about a week ago walking to a weekend group meeting on the fourth floor of the UGLi (Under Graduate Library). This is the southern part of the graduate library and a dramatic looking picture I thought. Kind of austere.

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  1. Like now. In order to bend my thoughts toward reflection and prose, in go the ear plugs. [↩]
  2. Compared to that last three. [↩]
  3. Pretty much every programmer knows this, but making it happen requires more programmers to know this…to think about what it means when programming. [↩]
  4. I’m referring to the type of cyber-link used in GIST where the characters can talk to each other in their heads over a network as if they were using headsets. Lips don’t move, only allowed people hear the chat. Coolness. [↩]

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Eyes on campus, looking ahead

April 2nd, 2008 7:20 am —  152 views

School work has been distributed pretty well throughout the semester. I’m not freaking out about finals but am looking forward to two (very brief) presentations on projects done with my groups and their accompanying reports. It’ll be interesting to look back over the semester.

Work is quiet as people are focused on projects. I’m working with paper and pencil, projecting forward into the summer, studying paths for a couple projects I have on my plate. In doing so I’m getting a better feel for the pieces and their ordering.

I’m into the third DVD for the first season of “Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex.” Very interesting animation, story line, and the combination of social tension with enhanced cybernetics: is NERD ON.

Thought I’d post some more pictures from our first trip north this year. This is my friend’s backyard. This is the Duke of Gaylord (DOG) at the Gaylord glacier. Here is a little ski hill near Boyne. If you appreciate good bourbon, take a look at what the DOG dusted of this weekend. Premium Van Winkle.

Image: Walking to class on Friday I passed these eyes on campus. After taking this picture they turned and started coming toward me. An unsettling stare it was. I hurried past them, smiling nervously.

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